The Skin of Our Teeth is a Pulitzer Prize for Drama-winning play by Thornton Wilder. It opened on October 15, 1942 at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, before moving to the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway on November 18, 1942. It was produced by Michael Myerberg and directed by Elia Kazan. The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918. ... A stage play is a dramatic work intended for performance before a live audience, or a performance of such a work. ... Image:Thorntonwilderteeth. ... is the 288th day of the year (289th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Shubert Theatre is a 1600 seat theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, originally opened in 1914. ... New Haven redirects here. ... The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre is a Broadway theatre. ... For other uses of Broadway, see Broadway. ... is the 322nd day of the year (323rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Elia Kazan, (Greek: Ηλίας Καζάν, IPA: ), (September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was a Greek-American film and theatre director, film and theatrical producer, screenwriter, novelist and cofounder of the influential Actors Studio in New York in 1947. ...

The leading role of Sabina was originated by Tallulah Bankhead. When she left the production, Bankhead was replaced by Miriam Hopkins. Hopkins was in turn replaced by Gladys George. For two performances, while George was ill, Lizabeth Scott, who had been Bankhead's understudy, was called in to play the role. Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress, talk-show host and bon vivant. ... Ellen Miriam Hopkins (October 18, 1902 – October 9, 1972) was an Oscar-nominated American actress. ... Gladys George (born September 13, 1900; died December 8, 1954) was an American actress. ... Lizabeth Scott (born September 29, 1922) is an American actress who achieved some success in films, particularly in the genre of film noir. ... An understudy is a theatrical term for someone who learns the lines and moves of a leading actor or actress in a theatrical play. ...

On January 18, 1983, The Skin of Our Teeth became the first stage play to be aired live over television in America^{[citation needed]}, in a version which starred Harold Gould as Mr. Antrobus and Blair Brown as Sabina. is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... Harold V. Goldstein (best known stage name Harold Gould) (born December 10, 1923) is a five-time Emmy Award-nominated American actor best known for playing Martin Morgenstern in the 1970s sitcom Rhoda, a role he reprised from his earlier recurring role in The Mary Tyler Moore Show. ... Blair Brown (born 23 April 1946 in Washington, District of Columbia) is an acclaimed stage actress who has also reached a broader audience with her television and film work, particularly, in the 1980s. ...

Overview

The main characters of the play are George and Maggie Antrobus (from Greek: άνθρωπος, "human" or "person"), their two children, Henry and Gladys, and Sabina, who appears as the family's maid in the first and third acts, and as a beauty queen temptress in the second act. The play's action takes place in a modern setting, but is full of anachronisms reaching back to prehistoric times. The characters' roles as archetypes are emphasized by their identification with Biblical and classical personalities.^{[citation needed]} For other uses, see Archetype (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Bible (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Classics (disambiguation). ...

For example, the name Sabina is a direct reference to the Sabines and the historical rape of the Sabine women.^{[citation needed]} Henry Antrobus's name was changed from "Cain", following his murder of his brother Abel. This is a story from the Bible, in which Cain, the son of Adam, murders his brother Abel after God favours Abel over Cain regarding gifts. This implies that George Antrobus is Adam, and Maggie Antrobus Eve, further supported by an event at the beginning of the play when Mr. Antrobus composes a song for his wife in honour of their anniversary, in which the lyrics: "Happy w'dding ann'vers'ry dear Eva" appear, though Mrs. Antrobus is referred to as Maggie throughout the play. The Rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna The tribe of the Sabines (Latin Sabini - singular Sabinus) was an Italic tribe of ancient Italy. ... Facsimile of the sculpture in the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence. ... In stories common to the Abrahamic religions, Cain or Káyin (קַיִן / קָיִן spear Standard Hebrew Qáyin, Tiberian Hebrew Qáyin / Qāyin; Arabic قايين Qāyīn in the Arabic Bible; قابيل Qābīl in Islam) is the eldest son of Adam and Eve, and the first man born in creation... Michelangelos The Creation of Adam, a fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, shows God creating Adam, with Eve in His arm. ... In the Book of Genesis, Abel (Hebrew הֶבֶל / הָבֶל, Standard Hebrew Hével / Hável, Tiberian Hebrew Héḇel / Hāḇel; Arabic هابيل Hābīl) was the second son of Adam. ... Michelangelos The Creation of Eve, a fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, shows God creating Eve from the side of Adam. ...

The murder of Abel is an underlying theme in the play, Mr. Antrobus pays far more attention to his "perfect" third child Gladys than he does Henry, because of the murder of his favourite child. As this treatment of Henry continues, throughout the acts is seen progression of Henry slowly becoming more angry with his family, which reaches its climax in the third act.

While the Antrobus family remains constant throughout the play, the three acts do not form a continuous narrative. The first act takes place during an impending ice age, in the second act the family circumstances have changed as George becomes president of the Fraternal Order of Mammals and the end of the world approaches a second time, and the third act opens with Maggie and Gladys emerging from a bunker at the end of a seven-year-long war. Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 400 000 years For the animated movie, see Ice Age (movie). ...

An additional layer of complexity is added to the structure of the play by the occasional interruption of the narrative scene by "the actor" directly addressing the audience.^{[citation needed]} In the first scene, the actress playing Sabina reveals her misgivings about the play, in the second act she refuses to say lines in the play and tells the audience things that causes a woman in the audience to run from the theatre sobbing, and in the third scene, the "stage manager" of the play interrupts to announce that several actors have taken ill. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Themes

This section does not cite any references or sources. (March 2008) Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

• History always repeats itself, we as a human race essentially never get anywhere, never learn from our mistakes, time is a continuous and jumbled thing that is always the same, although the scenarios change, the realities of everyday life remain the same.
• The play ends and begins in the same way.
• As Sabina says, "That's all we do—always beginning again! Over and over again. Always beginning again." After each disaster, they just rebuild the world again. She also says: "Don't forget that a few years ago we came through the depression by the skin of our teeth! One more tight squeeze like that and where will we be?"
• The Ice Age/The Great Flood; we are always plagued by the same things, in this case, lots of water
• Art and literature are one way of moving forward as a people.
• Technology doesn't necessarily advance the human race.

Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... This article is about great floods. ...

Plot

Act I

Act one is an amalgam of early 20th century New Jersey and the dawn of the Ice Age. The father is inventing things such as the lever, the wheel, the alphabet, and multiplication tables. The family (the Antrobuses) and the entire north-eastern U.S. face extinction by a wall of ice moving southward from Canada. The story is introduced by a narrator and further expanded by the family maid, Sabina. There are unsettling parallels between the members of the Antrobus family and various characters from the Bible. In addition, time is compressed and scrambled to such an extent that the refugees who arrive at the Antrobus house seeking food and fire include the Old Testament judge Moses, the ancient Greek poet Homer, and women who are identified as Muses. This article is about the U.S. state. ... Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 400 000 years For the animated movie, see Ice Age (movie). ... For the Portuguese town and parish, see Lever, Portugal. ... For other uses, see Wheel (disambiguation). ... ABCs redirects here. ... In mathematics, a multiplication table is used to define a multiplication operation for an algebraic system. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Note: Judaism... Moses with the Tablets, 1659, by Rembrandt This article is about the Biblical figure. ... For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... For the rock band, see Muse (band). ...

Act II

Act II takes place on the Boardwalk at Atlantic City, NJ, where the Antrobuses are present for George's swearing-in as president of the Ancient and Honourable Order of Mammals, Subdivision Humans. Sabina is present, also, in the guise of a scheming beauty queen, who tries to steal George's affection from his wife and family. Although the conventioneers are rowdy and partying furiously, there is an undercurrent of foreboding, since the weather signals change from summery sunshine to hurricane to deluge. Gladys and George each attempt their individual rebellions, and are brought back into line by the family. The act ends with the family members reconciled and, paralleling the Bibilical story of Noah's Ark, directing pairs of animals to safety on a large boat where they survive the storm and/or the end of the world. Photograph of the boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ, USA, taken August 2003. ... Alternate meanings: See Atlantic City (disambiguation) Atlantic City is a city located in USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 40,517. ... This article is about the vessel described in the Hebrew scriptures. ...

Act III

The final act takes place in the ruins of the Antrobus' former home. A devastating war has occurred; Maggie and Gladys have survived by hiding in a cellar. When they come out of the cellar we see that Gladys has a baby. George has been away at the front lines leading an army. Henry also fought, on the opposite side, and returns as a general. The family members discuss the ability of the human race to rebuild and continue after continually destroying itself. The question is raised, 'is there any accomplishment or attribute of the human race of enough value that its civilization should be rebuilt'? This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Human Race could be: The Human race. ...

The stage manager interrupts the play-within-the-play to explain that several members of their company can't do their parts because they're sick (possibly with food poisoning: the actress playing Sabina claims she saw blue mold on the lemon meringue pie at dinner). The stage manager drafts a janitor, a dresser, and other non-actors to fill their parts, which involve quoting philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle to mark the passing of time within the play. Stage management is a sub-discipline of stagecraft. ... For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Aristotle (disambiguation). ...

The alternate history action ends where it began, with Sabina dusting the living room and worrying about George's arrival from the office. Her final act is to address the audience and turn over the responsibility of continuing the action, or life, to them. Alternative history or alternate history can be: A History told from an alternative viewpoint, rather than from the view of imperialist, conqueror, or explorer. ...

Influences and criticism

Similarities between the play and James Joyce's novel Finnegans Wake were noted in the Saturday Review during the play's run on Broadway. Norman Cousins, editor of the Review, printed a short article by Joseph Campbell and Henry Morton Robinson titled "The Skin of Whose Teeth? The Strange Case of Mr. Wilder's New Play and Finnegan's Wake" in the issue for December 19, 1942, with a second part in the February 13, 1943 issue.^[1] This article is about the writer and poet. ... For other uses, see Novel (disambiguation). ... For the street ballad which the novel is named after, see Finnegans Wake. ... Norman Cousins in 1976. ... For other uses, see Joseph Campbell (disambiguation). ... Henry Morton Robinson (born in Boston on September 7, 1898–died in New York on January 13, 1961) was an American novelist, best known for his 1950 novel The Cardinal, detailing the life of Stephen Fermoyle, a young American priest who eventually becomes a Prince of the Church. ... is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

1. ^ Campbell, Joseph. Mythic Worlds, Modern Worlds: On the Art of James Joyce. New World Library, 2004; pp. 257-69.

External links

• The Skin of Our Teeth at The Internet Broadway Database
• "The Skin of Our Teeth", an Al Hirschfeld line drawing from the November 15, 1942 issue of The New York Times
• New York Times Review of an 1986 revival of The Skin of Our Teeth staged at the Classic Stage Company